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Hey everyone, I got the following note from one of our listeners a while back:

Hey Guys,
I'm a 21 year old senior who recently just started getting into comics due to the flash backs they give me from watching the cartoons growing up. However, I seem to be lost as to where to start with a story and with so many different issues that seem to be out I don't know where to begin, or even when new issues are released! I'm trying to find a story that I can follow without coming in halfway through ya know what I mean. My favorites growing up were always the big ones:
> Batman
> Captain America
> Spider-man
> Superman
> X-Men
> Daredevil etc
Basically the ones that were pretty well known. I am hoping you can help shed a little light on where I can start and maybe just help me with some of the basic info. There is a newbury comics store right near by where I am so I will have no problem getting the issues, but the employees know nothing about comics and just put them out on the shelves as its primarily a music store. Please, any advice I would greatly appreciate. I have currently purchased the Death Of Captain America series volumes 1 and 2 (not regular comic style but like thick printed, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about, run about $14.99) and I am also reading Watchmen but would love some help getting into the characters listed above on a weekly/monthly basis or whatever the come as. Thanks so much for helping an ignorant college kid develop a knowledge and passion for this great art.

I quickly responded with some suggestions on Daredevil, but then got busy and never gave him any other suggestions. So, I'm throwing this open to the forum to give some suggestions on the other "big" heroes.

Here is what I recommended on Daredevil:

Daredevil: This is one of my favorite books at Marvel right now (as you may have heard on the Weekly Comics Spotlight). I'm not sure how "new reader friendly" it would be jumping in on the current arc, but there are LOTS of places to get back into this with trade paperbacks (these are the "thick printed volumes" you talked about).

There are 3 places that you can start back in with daredevil
1) Kevin Smith's "Guardian Devil" story was really the beginning of the revitalization of Daredevil. You can get this in trade form by asking for "Guardian Devil", or can get it online here: http://www.instocktrades.com/product.as ... d&pid=8443 (this is DD #1-8)
next volume is here (this one is softcover):
http://www.instocktrades.com/product.as ... 0c&pid=253 (this is DD #9-15)
WARNING: Numbering gets kind of funny, as they started numbering the TPs back @ 1 when Bendis took over, and again back at 1 when Brubaker took over. Look for author names on these volumes.

2) The 2nd phase consisted of a LONG run by Brian Michael Bendis. This was excellent stuff, and concentrated more on DD as a street-level hero than a "blind Spider-Man" style superhero. If you have a bit of money to spend, you can get a huge chunk of this in one shot with the "Bendis DD Omnibus: which collects DD #16-19 & #26-50 & #56-60.
http://www.instocktrades.com/product.as ... d&pid=8352
These Bendis stories are also collected in smaller trades, but some of these may be out of print (though that does not mean they may not be sitting on a shelf in some comics or bookstore).

3) The current run is really the 3rd phase in the "revitalization of DD". Ed
Brubaker took over after Bendis and did not miss a beat. This is an excellent run which began with this volume:
http://www.instocktrades.com/product.as ... d&pid=3266 (collects DD #82-87)
http://www.instocktrades.com/product.as ... d&pid=4215 (DD #88-93)
NOTE: The TP numbering gets even more confusing with Ed Brubaker's run. Here they seem to be resetting the numbering to 1 with each story arc.
http://www.instocktrades.com/product.as ... d&pid=4215 (DD #94-99)

Anyway, this is for starters. I'll get to more when I get a chance.

[And then I never got to any more, thus this thread to have others help out]

For Batman, while these are a bit pricey, some of the best Batman ever was done with Neal Adams on the art back in the 1970s.

These are only available in HC right now, but they may come out in SC some say, but the #32 In-Stock Trades prices is a pretty good deal for what you get:

Vol's 1-3:
http://www.instocktrades.com/product.as ... a&pid=2385
http://www.instocktrades.com/product.as ... a&pid=2386
http://www.instocktrades.com/product.as ... a&pid=2393

I'll let other folks argue the case for more recent Batman that they love, most Batman comics from recent years kind of make my head hurt.

I really love the Morrison Batman, but I would actually start out with Batman: Face the Face, which was the storyline that kicked off the current runs of both Batman and Detective. I would then go to Batman and Son.

http://www.instocktrades.com/product.as ... a&pid=3087
http://www.instocktrades.com/product.as ... a&pid=7905

Another great set of Batman trades is Batman:Hush vols 1 and 2. IST has the first volume only, but you can get the 2nd volume at amazon

http://www.instocktrades.com/product.as ... a&pid=1212
http://www.amazon.com/Batman-Hush-Vol-J ... 494&sr=8-3

X-men
Having always loved the X-men, but not following them for a few years, I found X-men Messiah Complex an excellent jumping on point.

It had all the characters I remembered while adding a few new ones and I was quickly brought up to speed with what was going on.

http://www.instocktrades.com/product.as ... a&pid=8899

Immortal Iron Fist
Also, if you've enjoyed Daredevil in the past you may want to check out Immortal Iron Fist.

The first trade by Brubaker, Faction and Aja introduces a fresh look at Iron Fist, his story and the world around him.

Did not see the first trade at InStockTrades, but found it on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Immortal-Iron-Fis ... 290&sr=8-2

I would recommend two runs:

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN VOL 1 COMING HOME TP by j. michael straczynski This run was some very good stories pre-One More Day (OMD)

SPIDER-MAN TP VOL 01 BRAND NEW DAY, this begins the new story telling format for Spider-Man (3 times a month). The stories begin post-One More Day.

I do not recommend One More Day. The story told does not represent a Peter Parker/Spider-Man most of us have known. This story was an editorial decision to go in a new direction (Brand New Day). I like Brand New Day stories, I just don't like how they got there.

All are available at instocktrade.com